KUALA LUMPUR: Sunway Group founder and chairman, Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah has been named an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) by King Charles III of the United Kingdom (UK).
Cheah received this honour in recognition of his contributions in higher education, health services and philanthropy.
He is only the second Malaysian to receive this honour in recent times and the first to be conferred by King Charles III.
In response to this distinction, Cheah expressed his deep gratitude and was humbled by the recognition of his services to higher education, health services and philanthropy.
He highlighted the collective efforts of Sunway Group and the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation to make a positive impact on society and Malaysia.
"I consider this honour not just a personal one but an award that recognises the efforts of everyone affiliated with Sunway Group and the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation in positively impacting society and our beloved country," he said in a statement today.
The honorary award will be presented to Cheah by the British High Commissioner tom Malaysia on behalf of King Charles III at a later date.
To date, his foundation has disbursed more than RM670 million in scholarships to provide educational support to qualified students in need and endowed many chairs and professorships at a number of world-renowned universities.
In healthcare, the partnership with the University of Cambridge saw the group's flagship Sunway Medical Centre at Sunway City Kuala Lumpur appointed as a regional site partner of the Cambridge University Clinical Research Centre, as well as the naming of the Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre at the Cambridge University Biomedical Campus, the largest biotech cluster outside the United States.
The Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre houses more than 300 scientists conducting cutting-edge research to address the latest and emerging public health challenges.
Recently, through Sunway Innovation Lab, Cheah established a partnership with Deeptech Labs, a Cambridge-based venture capital firm, enabling them to accelerate the growth of net zero technologies and open new avenues for UK startups in the Asia Pacific region.
The British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Ailsa Terry congratulated Cheah.
"It was an honour for me to have personally informed Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah of his honorary award. He is an extraordinary entrepreneur who has built and led the Sunway Group to a successful conglomerate with investments in the UK.
"Equally remarkable is how he continues to invest in future generations through education, healthcare and philanthropy in Malaysia and the UK. All these have contributed immensely to bilateral relations," she said.